The motu proprio liberating the Tridentine Mass for the entire Catholic Church has been given to about 30 bishops from all over the world in the Sala Bologna of the Apostolic Palace by Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone
Vatican (kath.net/DieWelt/closedcafeteria.blogspot)Die Welt report that the motu proprio liberating the Tridentine Mass for the entire Catholic Church has been given to about 30 bishops from all over the world in the Sala Bologna of the Apostolic Palace by Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone.
The bishops had been invited to Rome for that purpose. At the end of the meeting, in which the motu proprio was introduced together with a letter of explanation by Pope Benedict XVI., Pope Benedict met with the bishops. The document is about three pages long, the accompanying letter about four. From Germany, Cardinal Lehmann had been invited. The circumstances of the procedure make clear that the Pope was very interested to personally inform the bishops, in collegial manner, of the content rather than from the media. The publication of both documents will take place on July 7th. It emphasizes the unity of the Roman Rite which will consist of an ordinary and an extraordinary form which are supposed to inspire each other. The ordinary/regular form will continue to be the new rite of 1969. The extraordinary form will be the Missal of Bl. John XXIII. of 1962.
In our diocese I think that there are five of six places where, what do we call it now "The Missal of Bl John XXIII" is used monthly. One priest, I know, celebrates it weekly, early in the morning, on his day off, saying he needs it for his own spiritual health. I really can't imagine that many places are immediatley going to start celebrating the older rite, neither do I think that is the Pope's intention or even desire.
For me I see the Motu Proprio as a tool, a very important tool in the Pope's Mission.
- It is sign that Vat II was a not disruption in the history of the Church, but rather that it was another Council in the Church's seamless history, following on from Vat I and Trent.
- It is an Ecumenical sign to the Eastern Churches that the west too values The Tradition and doesn't with a stroke of a pen discard it.
- It is signal that the Church values the culture that has surrounded the Mass, (and is an important part of European culture) for example the music of Mozart and Palestrina, as well as Gregorian Chant are still a valued liturgical resource, as is the architecture of the Middle Ages or Bennini or even Gaudi.
- The Prayer Tradition of Chant, and silence too, is still 0f importance to the Church today.
- "All Rites are of equal value" an important statement of Vatican II, in the last 40 years the non-Roman rites of the Church -Marionite, Syro-Malabar etc. - have been increasingly westernised and lost touch with their roots.
- He is trying to state that Liturgy is about God, and Man is there to serve God, therefore it is not just about the meaning of the words "actual participation" but is actually about the very nature of "Man", and his relationship with God.
- It is about justice, the right of a group within the Church to have access to something which is legitimate and has in the past been regarded as good, and therefore that those who love the Old Rite are not second class Catholics.
- It is about giving roots to "Ordinary Rite" the Mass of Paul VI and encouraging legitimate liturgical "experiment" that points to reverence, devotion and prayer.
- And yes, it is about the reconcilliation of the Lefebvrists but more than that, it is about reconcilliation, or at least the bringing into communion, of all they stand for. In many ways it is about a broadening of the Church, this is not unconnected, in some way with the reconcilliation of the Chinese Patriotic Church.
- There is sense too of wanting to say that the Liturgy is timeless. There are words and phrases, theological concepts in the "Ordinary Rite" that seem today redolent of the period in which the Missal was constructed. Benedict is not a creature of fashion. Already Benedict has returned the consecration to the words "pro Multis". JPII demanded better translations of the English.
I might add to this list later on in the day, readers too might add their own thoughts in the comments box.
6 comments:
For me personally, it's helpful in that it will help me feel that my love for the traditional liturgy (which I with many other converts share) does not automatically place me "beyond the pale" within the Church. It's been quite distressing at times.
Deo gratias!
Thank God.
I hope that more of our priests will say it locally, and that I could have a regular opportunity of attending the Classical Rite without having to drive for miles. Maybe if it could be done regularly during the week in the evening it would serve the need that is certainly there without any issues arising.
Let's pray for a fruitful interplay between both rites and that each will enhance the other for all our benefit.
Thank you God.
" In many ways it is about a broadening of the Church, this is not unconnected, in some way with the reconcilliation of the Chinese Patriotic Church."
And the Orthodox Church too, Father. I agree with you it is in part about returning to an ecclesiology, an understanding of communion, of the first millenium.
It won't make the slightest difference in the majority of parishes universally.
Deo gratias! Oh the Te Deums that will be ringing out!
I agree with anon - there will be no change. The Bishop of Leeds has just spent 2 million pounds on a typically aggressive novus ordo reordering of his Cathedral - (his cathedra is where a high altar might have been!!!!), that there will be no changes on the gound for the majority.
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